Tom Eirik Mollnes was awarded the Gold Medal of the European Complement Network, which is the European Society for all Complementologists.

ECN gold medal awardee Tom Eirik Mollnes

He received this highest possible honor from the society at the European Meeting for Complement in Human Diseases on August 26th-29th 2022 in Bern, Switzerland.

He received this award because of his long-lasting significant contributions to the field of complement research and during the honorable speech it was highlighted that he established the very important assay for detection of complement activation by identifying an antibody reacting with the neoepitope of activated C9. Today, all analytical tests in common clinical use for both detections of complement activation and functional activity of the complement system are based on this antibody. In addition, he established the widely used lepirudin whole-blood model, which is a prerequisite in obtaining reliable results of complement activation in vitro while enabling interaction of the complement cascade with the coagulation system, other plasma proteins,  and blood cells. Lastly, it was highlighted that he always has and will thrive in bringing complement therapy to the clinic and that he is open to including many approaches into a therapy like e.g., inhibition of the Toll-like receptors in addition to complement therapy.

The NCRG presented 12 abstracts at the EMCHD2022 including oral presentations (first author PhD student, MD Benjamin Storm), and received two abstract prizes (PhD student, MD Eline deBoer and PhD student, MD, Benjamin Storm), which highlights the solid position of the NCRG in the complement research field.

The NCRG at the EMCHD2022 congress